sick. not just when they are healthy. insurance they can afford, that they can plan on having. the affordable care act does that. do we have some things to fix? absolutely. is this one of them? yes. the president's guidance is a step forward. i have a bill, there are others that have been filed. not to a great step forward. i have a bill and there are other bills that have been filed. we are working across the aisle. -- therepeal the four affordable care act. not to defund it. not too undermined it. not to got it. but to fix it. anybody that wants to work with it, ianybody else to fix will be willing. let me say these cancellation --ice us that when out

notices that went out to north carolina, arkansas, a lot of places, under the president posses guidance, these letters now will have to explain to people that receive them, you know, what their policy did and what is available on the exchange. many people will find better options on the exchange. assuming we can get those exchanges up and running and assuming we can get the websites working, many people will find a better option. we told people if they had these plans, they could keep it. this and willh answer your questions. i do not want to lose sight of the promise of the affordable care act. i will give to the press this letter i received from my office. i will not read the whole part of it. but this child, emily, is now 22 years old. susan, wrote me this letter to say, i know you are struggling with the aca and i

want to tell you this is worth fighting for. she goes on to describe her daughter, who lost her hearing as a young child, struggle through and got great grades and ended up going to one of the toughest universities in the country, as she was partially deaf. she then gets hit i a car. too much to believe, but it is true. gets hit by a car and, had she not in at the age of 22 on the affordable care act, she would have virtually no insurance today. do not lose sight of the promise of the bill, even though we have to get it fixed. dana. go ahead. >> look the president is doing is encouraging insurance companies to give people back their plans. their legislation would require it. is he going far enough and will you continue to push? >> the president posses guidance was welcome and well received.

we may have to fashion some legislation and we will continue to work in that regard. >> what is the democratic leadership saying to you? >> you will have to ask them. they there are encouraging us to fix this. it understands, since we are the ones who help build the bill, how important it is. ask them. i am continuing to fight very hard for the promise to be kept. why would something from congress the necessary? >> i could not hear the last part. well, first of all, the president has come to the conclusion and he does not have the authority to direct commissioners of insurance. congress could do that. in the house, as you know. several bills moving through congress. my view of the upton bill, and

my view of every republican bill i have seen, is that it does not go to fix the affordable care act, but to got it. -- gut it. it should be understood in that regard. there are bills like mine and others that want to find a fix to this and keep the promise. it was an important promise that was made. insurance, even though it is expensive and deductibles were high, even though most of these plans did not really cover much at all, it was their plans and if they want to keep it, they should be able to. i am very hopeful, if the affordable care act works as it should, that within a year or less, they will be able to find even better options on the exchange. but we made a promise and we need to keep it. democratic colleagues have come out of the caucus and said, more needs to be done and we need legislation. you do not need -- seem to be saying that.

you said we may need legislation. >> no. you're not hearing correctly. that is your ears. the president posses announcement this morning was a great first step and we will probably need legislation to make it stick. however, do not underestimate the power of a presidential directive. do not and are estimate that's underestimate the willingness of insurance commissioners around this country, republican and democrat, to make this right for people. in thise people country, contrary to what we might think here in this capital, that really want this legislation to work, because they know the promise it has for people. that is why i am being strong but careful in how we approach this legislatively. we have six cosponsors now, five

cosponsors now, and we are picking up support everyday. vote in an important the house that will take place, that will send some sort of signals. we are continuing to pick up support. again, i think the president took a step in the right direction. >> he is asking about the length of the bill. i will respond one of the most important components of my bill, which the president spoke about this morning, was the importance of the notification that insurance companies will have to make, telling people, unlike this level -- letter, that says, your plan is canceled with no as a nation, based on the president posses guidance this morning, and he knew cancellation letters that go out will have to explain why your policy does not meet the threshold and what is now

available to you. but it will also say even though the policy does not meet the new threshold, you can keep it. my bill is a permanent solution. we will be working to see how that can be shaped to make it , hold a promise, and support the affordable care act. one more, yours. >> do you have any concerns about the possibility republicans would push america -- amendments on this subject on the defense will or anything else? the college has his own push on obamacare related amendments. are you worried about any of those that might come up? >> he only thing i'm keeping my eyes on are the 800,000 people in louisiana do not have health insurance. , hundreds ofses thousands, that do, but premiums keep going up every year and they keep getting dropped because we had an unaffordable health care system in this country. fixing it so they could depend on it and we can build on it and

they can count on it. that is what i will do. i cannot control other amendments that come up from any other bills. to focus, in my view, on fixing the affordable care act, when we see problems. this is a problem and it needs to be fixed. thank you all. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] offollowing the end legislative business thursday, dozens of house republicans took part in an extended series of one minute speeches on the health care a lot. anders spoke about letters spoke about the upcoming vote in the house to allow people to keep their plans. we hear from house majority leader cantor at the top. it is 30 minutes. mailboxes to find shocking news. their health care plans are being taken away from them. the president broke a promise we knew he couldn't keep, and now millions of americans feel

betrayed, wondering why their health care plans are being canceled. mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. mr. cantor: mr. speaker, this letter was september to me by a constituent -- was sent to me by a constituent named bruno, and he's a constituent of mine in richmond, virginia. he's a self-employed individual who purchases health insurance through anthem blue cross blue shield. a few weeks ago he was stunned to receive this letter in the mail, and it clearly reads, to meet the requirements of the new law, your current plan can no longer be offered. any me plan to cost him this nds and thousands -- plan will cost him thousands

and thousands more. as every day passes, we continue to learn more and more people in the same situation. mr. gorra and this cancellation letter represents millions of obamacare victims across the country who are having their health insurance ripped away from them. as a result, we as republicans will have the keep your plan act on the floor tomorrow. e only way to stop the cancellation letter will be full repeal of this law. hopefully this legislation will help those feeling the effects of the new health care law. tomorrow we'll see who will put their constituents before politics and vote for a bill that will allow americans to keep their plans. i sincerely hope that my colleagues will act as a united voice and take the first of

many steps to provide relief to the american people from the many, many burdens brought about by obamacare. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from new mexico ise? ms. lujan grisham: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. lujan grisham: mr. speaker, on veterans day, i had the honor of speaking at a veterans ceremony in albuquerque where i was reminded of our solemn responsibility that we have as lawmakers to do everything we can do to stand up for those who stand up for us. that's why last month i introduced the veterans independent living enhancement act. bipartisan legislation that will help disabled veterans live independently and participate in family and community life. currently only 2,700 veterans in the entire country can enroll in the v.a.'s highly

successful independent living program each year. when you compare that to the 2.6 million veterans of the iraq and afghanistan wars alone, it is clear that this number is far too low, preventing veterans from getting the services and support they need. my bill, which has both democratic and republican co-sponsors, along with the support of a dozen different veterans and health organizations, would remove this arbitrary cap so that every veteran would ben frit from the independent living -- would benefit from the independent living program who can participate in it. mr. speaker, i ask my colleagues to take up this commonsense, bipartisan legislation. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from california rise? without objection. >> mr. speaker, the president's announcement today does little

to change to act. the president's plan, if you like your plan, you can keep it, is an empty promise. californians are finding out firsthand in the form of a letter that their current plan has been canceled. one of those one million californians happens to be a constituent of mine from bakersfield, california. he wrote me recently how obamacare has failed. mr. mccarthy: he writes, our youngest son was born with a rare genetic condition that results in severe mental retardation. an inability to walk or talk and a need to be tube fed directly to his surgecally implanted port in his stomach. -- surgically implanted port in his stomach. our insurance company has been great helping our son, who requires 24-hour care and prescriptions and formula which is expensive. we learned that our previous coverage, not cheap by any means, with the premium of

nearly $1,000 a month, is no longer available. nd that for a far inferior replacement coverage with more out-of-pocket coverage, bringing our total to over $1,600 a month. with the added out-of-pocket expenses we anticipate for his care in the coming year, we expect to pay $24,000 more for the care of next year than this year, all thanks to a.c.a. that is why we must take up and pass keep your health plan act, and we ask the democrats to join with us to keep a pledge, to keep a promise and stop increasing the cost for the constituents. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from california rise? without objection.

mrs. capps: mr. speaker, i rise to tell the story of one of my constituents' experiences with the affordable care act. allen from santa barbara county. prior to the affordable care act, his wife was paying $20,000 a year in insurance premiums. he has a pre-existing condition, so even though it cost so much, she was thankful to have any coverage at all. now, when covered california, our online marketplace opened, she made a call, looked at her options and found a plan that works for her. this plan saved them $8,000 a year, and it was a much better plan. now, we know that the rollout nationally has been sloppy, but the law is not perfect and there are real issues we must fix. and we must fix those problems without diminishing the true benefits the law is giving to

my constituents and those across the country. we must ensure that all americans have access to quality, affordable health care. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota -- michigan. >> mr. speaker, i'd ask unanimous consent to speak -- to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. upton: mr. speaker, for the last three years, the president personally promised that if they like their current health care plan that they can keep it no matter what, period. but cancellation notices are now arriving in millions of mailboxes across the country. and in michigan, the great state of michigan, some 225,000 folks will see their plans terminated because of this law. that's twice the number of people who have even been -- who have even tried to select a plan nationwide. now, i've heard from countless families back home that took the president at his word. they're upset, yes, they are,

and worried how they're going to make ends meet. a self-employed family of three in bangor, michigan, had purchased their own insurance for more than 30 years. their blue cross blue shield plan was working well, had no deductible, $750 monthly premium. to replace it, the premium is going to nearly double to $1393 and their du ductible will jump to $2,800. in their own words, they told us they had been thrown under the bus. sadly, they're not alone. tomorrow, we will vote on the keep your health care plan act, a straightforward, one-page bill that says if you like your coverage, you ought to be able to keep it. let's keep that promise. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the chair recognizes the gentleman from -- for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection.

>> mr. speaker, i rise to share with you a story of a couple zaccos.nsylvania, the mr. cartwright: in a one-on-one session a week ago monday, beverly and bob sat as the navigator, mr. hartman, worked online through their application with them. this time, although they had a prior bad experience, the online connection worked like a charm, hartman said, and once it's finished, the zaccos will get a plan that is $500 less expensive than the cobra coverage they had been purchasing for $1,200, even without subsidies. at 62 years old, mr. zaccos is hoping with some adjustments to his income and his wife's medicare, he could qualify for hundreds more a month in subsidies. and i take that from the allentown morning call.

and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from indiana rise? without objection. mrs. walorski: thank you, mr. speaker. i'm pleased to co-sponsor the keep your health plan act, to make sure individuals can keep the health care plans they like and need. i asked hoosiers in the state of indiana to share their stories with me about their experiences with obamacare. the stories are shocking. kathryn from south bend, got this letter from her insurance company stating that her plan will be canceled. her monthly payments will ncrease from $186 per month to $329 per month, nearly double. cancer m elkhart is a patient undergoing chemotherapy. she has to pay over $1,200 a month for her own coverage. barton said his group premiums will increase up to 80% this

year. these are serious problems causing incredible hardships for the very people that we represent. it's time to work on commonsense reforms that will lower health care costs and improve the quality of care for our constituents. if we work together, we can get it done. thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from illinois rise? mr. davis: to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. davis: thank you, mr. speaker. late last wednesday, the 57-year-old of libertyville became one of the first enrollees for health insurance after glitch-stricken online marketplace operated by the federal government for 36 states, including illinois. i just kept trying, she said. tell people to just keep trying and they'll get in eventually. with federal tax credits, they will pay about $260 a month in

premiums, less than what they paid before. they will be able to retain their family doctor and their dentist and their annual deductible will drop to $1,500 from $5,000. just keep trying. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. poe: mr. speaker, the house of representatives has voted numerous times to repeal obamacare, but the president finally admitted today that obamacare is just not working. and so to save his flawed legislation, he has decided to selectively enforce the law. the individual man darktse the idea that you can keep your own insurance. he said he won't enforce the fine for noncompliance for one year. his method is unconstitutional. the constitution requires congress to write, rewrite and amend laws.

no president can just use administrative discretion to not enforce laws or change the law. administrative discretion is just not mentioned in the constitution. selective enforcement violates the 14th amendment. no president can just administratively change any law. what's next? is he going to raise taxes by administrative order? congress must write the law. the president must enforce the law. the house will address this very issue legally tomorrow by bringing up legislation that now the president seems to support. i assume the former constitutional law professor will sign on this excellent legislation that you can keep your insurance if you like it. and that's just the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? >> i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: ithout objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker.

mr. speaker, over 200,000 pennsylvanians have been notified that they will lose their plans because of president obama's health care law. what these numbers don't tell you is the story of hardworking pennsylvanians like these two. don is a marine corps veteran and a former coal miner. he and karen run a ministry that helps people in developing countries. rough rough done recently -- don -- mr. rothfus: don recently let me know that he will lose his plan. he said he specifically bought a plan that met his needs. i liked my plan very much and it was something i could afford. when don and karen were able to get onto the website, the plan he was offered had a deductible of more than $6,000. in don's words, this is, quote, ridiculous, and unaffordable. unfortunately their story is not unique. we need help -- health care reform that works for don and karen and the rest of the american people. the empowering patients first act and the american health care reform act provide a good place to start and a better way on

health care reform. i thank the speaker and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from oklahoma rise? without objection. >> oklahoma, i rise today to say enough is enough. enough of the rhetoric, enough of the dishonesty. promises have been broken, we face critical situations that need to be made right. countless americans and many within the second district of oklahoma are going to their mailboxes only to learn that the health insurance plan they like is being canceled. in the house we have chosen to listen to the american people through keep your health plan act. mr. mullin: individuals can keep the plan they like and we can clean up the damage done by this administration's failures. aside from the consequences on individuals, business owners like me also face mounting regulations and penalties as a result of obamacare. small businesses provide stability to our economy and employ millions of americans.

that stability has been jeopardized by the result of obamacare. i will not sit back and watch americans be subject to empty promises with no solution in sight. i encourage my colleagues to join me in saying enough is enough and vote in support of keep your heament plan act. i yield back -- your health plan act. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the entleman from colorado rise? without objection. >> mr. speaker, as my colleagues today have already pointed out, the president made this promise to the american people. if you like your health care plan, you'll be able to keep your health care plan. period. i have in my hands a letter sent to my office from noel from akron, colorado, in my district. this is in part what it says. mr. gardner: i'm 37-year-old auto motive mechanic in the family business, volunteer firefighter, devout catholic. my wife is a 33-year-old third grade teacher. our daughter, a 2-year-old, our son is a 1-year-old and our third child is due in march.

i received a letter from rocky mountain health plan stating my existing policy is canceled as of january 1, 2014, due to mandated government policies. 250,000 coloradans have lost their insurance. that's more people than have now signed up across this country nationwide for obamacare. you're not alone. i join you because i too lost my health insurance when i chose to opt out of the congressional coverage. one of the 250,000 people that lost our coverage and it is time for this president to uphold his promise to the american people. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from indiana rise? without objection. >> mr. speaker, as a physician my goal is to make certain that every american has access to quality, affordable health care. the president and congressional democrats promised that you can keep your health insurance if you like it. well, we learned yesterday that in my home state of indiana,

only 701 hoosiers have signed up successfully for the affordable care act while over 108,000 hoosiers have had their current plans canceled. i think the people of indiana know, this promise has not been kept. mr. bucshon: mary from evansville, indiana, wrote to me about this very thing. she said, our insurance is excellent. i had a heart attack a year ago, we met our deductible this year, but insurance has paid for everything recommended. two months of cardiac rehab, prirpgses and even more surgery -- prescriptions and even more surgery. my insurance and my doctors saved my life and now auto -- and now i'm at risk of losing both. on facebook andrea wrote that she was able to extends her plan for her and her son until next december, then it will be canceled. what happened to if you want to keep your health care, you can, she went on. and finally allen summed up his frustration in one sentence. i will not have insurance beginning january 1, end of story. mr. speaker, these are real stories that affect real people, hardworking families just trying to get by.

mr. speaker, we need to hold the president and congressional democrats to their promise. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the entlewoman from kansas rise? ms. jenkins: address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. ms. jenkins: across kansas, folks are struggling from the affects of obamacare. this cancellation letter is from greg and linda in osage city who wrote to tell me their son was losing his health care plan. linda spent hours each night for weeks trying to sign up for a new plan on the website. she tried the online chat, she tried calling the number and no one could answer her questions. they were forced to add their son to greg's more expensive employer plan and now their son's health insurance bill is going up 50% each month. after years of knowing about these problems, today the president tried to make good on his promise, if you like your plan, you can keep it.

but for greg and linda, it's likely too late to the dead line. they have no good options. we must continue to work for hardworking american families who are paying the price for this unworkable law. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlewoman yields back the balance of her time. for what purpose does the gentleman from nevada rise? without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. if you like your health care plan, you can keep it. period. if you like your doctor, you can keep him, period. we all remember when we heard those words. here's an article from today's las vegas review journal. nearly 25,000 nevadans lose insurance plans under obamacare, that's roughly 27% of the individual market in that state. one of those individuals is janet. janet's 55 years old and battling recurrent cancer. she's had the same insurance policy for 11 years. mr. heck: for 11 years that policy and those doctors have

taken care of her and kept her alive. she's currently battling a recurrence undergoing chemotherapy and she received this letter from her insurer on september 25. we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for allowing us to be your heament insurance carrier. we are writing to advise you that due to the passage of the federal patient protection and affordable care act, effective december 31, 2013, your standard of basic individual health plan will be discontinued and terminated. you will no longer be able to continue coverage under this benefit plan as of this date. as janet valiantly battles her disease, the last thing she needs is the added stress of wondering about her insurance coverage. mr. president, it's time that americans are allowed to keep their health care plan, period. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? >> address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. peter earlying is a 24-year-old from middleland, texas, who has

done everything he's supposed to do. when he was 18 he began working in the oil fields as a roustabout and through hard work and perseverance, he eventually became -- worked his way up to field operations manager. four years ago he married a beautiful young lady and they started a family. he now has three small boys and there's a fourth one on the way. but, mr. speaker, he's now in a bad position because of bad calls made by those law makers who voted for the affordable care act and the president who signed it into law. mr. conaway: thanks to obamacare, his company, in the face of a 40% increase in rates, has switched their health insurance plan. the kicker is that peter's wife is halfway through the pregnancy with their fourth child. his wife's doctor is not a part of the new insurance plan. and they're going to have to spend an extra $18,000 out of pocket to stay with the doctor they like and the doctor they were promised they could keep. this is a broken promise that has turn what had should be a joyful and momentous occasion into a nightmare. as he said to one of my staff, i'm 24 years old, at my age, at this point in my career, this is

not something that i should have to worry about. mr. speaker, this is not an intellectual exercise we engage in. obamacare is causing major problems for hardworking people like peter and his wife in the 11th district of texas. his wife is in tears over this issue. the american dream that he was working so hard to provide for his family has turned into a nightmare because of a bad lot. this is unacceptable and it's inexcusable and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from ohio rise? >> mr. speaker, i request permission to address the house for one minute, revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. 3.5 million americans have seen their health care plans canceled under the affordable care act. i personally heard from many constituents in my district who are seeing their health care plans canceled. for example, anthony, who is a small business owner in my district, got these letters from his insurance plan saying that

his plan would be canceled. as a result of that there's a new plan that's available to him, but his monthly cost goes up by a little over 80%. and that's low compared to some. he's in the process of building a business and he just hired his first employee. he told me he is scared to death to hire another employee because he just got his insurance cancel and the cost doubled. it's just another story of how this law is hurting people and stifling job creation. i'd like to ask all my colleagues to join me in supporting chairman upton's bill, the keep your health plan act. mr. stivers: i urge all of you to support it. thank you, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the entleman from kentucky rise? without objection. >> mr. speaker, for the last four years, president obama repeatedly promised the american people that if you like your

health care plan, you can keep it. but for melody in lexington, kentucky, that's simply not true. melody received a notice that her health care plan was no longer good enough under obamacare. and when melody looked into options for new insurance, like so many other americans, she found out that her family's insurance costs would go up by 250% and their deductible would increase by $2,000. mr. barr: melody in this email told me, we do not qualify for any premium assistance, even though we are a family of three living on a single income. we are more likely to go without health care coverage because our premiums are going to cost more per year than we would wind up spending on medical expenses without insurance. mr. speaker, this is not about politics. this is about real people in our districts that are being harmed by obamacare. the american people don't need apologies, they don't need temporary administrative waivers. they need permanent solutions that will protect hardworking

americans from the coverage cancellations, loss of access to doctors and premium spikes. it's time for the president to keep his promise and allow americans who like their health care plans to keep them. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentleman from montana rise? without objection. mr. daines: mr. speaker, president obama promised if you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan. but for tens of thousands of montanans, his words are nothing more than a broken promise that has resulted in canceled insurance plans and rising health care costs. i've already heard from hundreds of montanans who are looking for relief from obamacare and unfortunately the president's recent announcement isn't a long-term fix, nor does it address the core problems of this failed law. mr. speaker, this is called the people's house and i want to share the story of the people of montana tonight in this body. dean and summer from flat head

county have an autistic son and a daughter with muscular dystrophy who were just notified as i spoke with the mom last week on the phone that their rates are going up $4,500 a year because of obamacare. or take for example jim, a business owner in troy, montana, who will need to cut employee hours to avoid paying the obamacare fine and keep his business afloat. or ann marie in mile city, montana, whose family is facing an additional $3,000 per year in health care costs due to increased premiums and deductibles. or paula, a health care provider in cow's bell, who is questioning the viability of her private practice and her ability to continue providing care to many of her parents -- patients. montanans deserve a permanent solution, not a short-term politically driven patch. i will continue fighting to fully repeal obamacare in working toward real solutions to protect montanans' access to their doctors and the health care plans they want. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. for what purpose does the gentlewoman from michigan rise? mr. miller: unanimous consent to address the house for one minute, revise and extend.

the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mrs. miller: mr. speaker, president obama misled the american people about obamacare and now he's admitted it. and here's a letter to me from a small business owner in my district. my husband and i have a small medical education business and ever since obamacare passed, our business has been cut in half, doctors are not spending money on education, so for the last four years, our business has really suffered. then we were told we could keep our insurance. we had good insurance. not junk. we currently pay $514 a month for the $2,000 deductible. we were canceled as of 12/31/13. to get anything near where we had, we'll have to pay $1,900 a month which we cannot afford. so much for affordable health care. this is the first time in 30 years that we might not be able to have health insurance. we always run our life, not depending on the government for handouts and now we are losing our insurance. i ask you, what are we to do?

americans are suffering. yes, something was wrong, and i believe that something needed to be done. but not this. mr. speaker, it's time to keep the promise to the americ >> minority leader policy and other spoke that would mandate insurance companies must keep their policies. this briefing is 25 minutes.

, jim, and our vice chairman is unable to attend. completed a very good meeting. a very very good meeting. extremely well attended meeting discussing with the administration how we move forward to continue to improve our health security law. we were pleased to have several representatives from the administration further outline what the president announced to the american public earlier today on how we will move forward to make sure people can and on to their insurance

people can continue to secure good quality health insurance through the marketplaces as well. the good news, there are some 500,000 americans today who will have health insurance that gives them access to doctors and hospitals, that helps them have the relief of knowing their children can go visit a physician when they get sick, which they did not have before the affordable care act became law. 500,000 people. among those, someone i would like to mention, andrew, who i hope i get to meet. i mention them all the time. he is from los angeles. was frustrated and spent some 300 -- three hours trying to navigate the website him in california and was not pleased he had to wait three hours. after three hours, he ended up saving $6,000.

while no one should have to wait three hours to find out if they will qualify for quality affordable health care, everyone wants to save $6,000 and that is why we're here. we want americans to save money on health insurance and we want the millions of americans who could never say they could afford to buy health insurance let alone save money, have access to the doctors and hospitals, so important for their children and themselves. we are here to say we will do everything we can to make our health security law work and work well. is an opportunity to improve it, we will work with the president and our colleagues in congress to make that happen. understand speaker banner the bill theed house republican majority will put him a floor of the house tomorrow is not for the purpose of improving the new health ofurity law, or the purpose

trying to help americans trying to steer health insurance through the new marketplaces, but it is for the purpose of moving towards once again repealing the affordable care act. 46 -- 46th time republicans will try to repeal all or part of the law that americans now count on so they will not be discriminated against to make sure their children if they're under 26 can stay on their health insurance policy, to make sure seniors continue to watch as the doughnut hole for payment of their prescription drugs it operates 20 so they do not have to pay out-of-pocket. we want to continue to see health insurance coverage improve for americans and that is why we are please we can join with the president to say we are ready to improve on the affordable care act and make it possible for more than 500,000 people to become insured americans. for all the millions of americans navigating the website, to have that chance as well. let me now ask our leader, nancy

pelosi, for her comments. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. , as pleased to join you well as all of our members, in the very important meeting we have today. i commend you for how well you have channeled all of the beautiful energy into a spirit that is positive and unified that will take us to the floor tomorrow, but, more important to our way toke us on full implementation of the affordable care act. it is really hard to resist when we are talking about quantifying the numbers signed up. half a million people now, as you said, have access. those of the numbers released. there are more since the end of october, even in california, numbers have practically doubled from october to the first two weeks of november. nonetheless, tooth also think in terms of the over 3 million onng people who can stay

their parents policy until there are 26 years old. 100% of americans little children no longer have to be discriminated against because of a pre-existing medical condition to the high risk pools that have given people the opportunity with an illness without resources to access to care, to the seniors who benefited from the wellness, no co-pay, no deductible, implementation is already in effect, as well as the cost of prescription drugs, and lengthening the stability of medicare. where are we in terms of a bill its constitutionality was upheld by the court, implementation was rolled out over a year to help american andle in many ways already now, despite the glitches, still half a million people. 1,000,000.1 -- 1.1 million more inple eligible have logged

and are eligible to go to the next step. was the experience of massachusetts, after the initial rollout, there was an acceleration to it. it is pretty exciting. think i can almost unanimously say there are members very pleased with the president posses statement today, that he would do what he could do administratively on this, to have the delay, to encourage insurance companies to make sure people know what their rights are in terms of going to an exchange. you know his provision. i will not visit it except to receiveds positively in the process of putting together our motion to recommit our legislative opportunity as a minardi for tomorrow. you will hear more about it tomorrow. to what thementary

president has done. i think the administration for any andailability in all occasions, to, and spell out specifically what the opportunities are and for some of our members, to spell out clearly what the problems are with the bill, the bill of the hour coming out tomorrow. fuss and everybody said how the bill would protect, it does not mandate insurance peoplees must keep those in their insurance policies. it is only a masquerade, a trojan horse, coming in to undermine the affordable care .ct by expanding with the pleased combination of meetings we have been having in the course of the

past couple of days. andas brought us together will take us forward for the full implementation of the affordable care act. i am pleased to yield to the distinguished house democratic with. >> thank you. jim, our assistant leader. our -- let me say, the democratic caucus is almost theimous on the belief affordable care act is good for our country, good for our people, that it will make affordable, quality health care all americans. that is the substance of what we are talking about. what wee substance of are talking about and we have not changed the message, even from our party's perspective, when we think the affordable care act will make health care available to all americans and have all americans participate

to the extent they can in paying for that health care, which we think is fair to all americans. the message has not changed on our side. repeal the affordable care act. this is just another in that effort to do so. we believe the president has taken positive steps to make it very clear people who had a policy can't continue in that policy for another year. while figuring out what alternatives are available to them. repeating that 83% of the people who are in the individual marketplace have changed their policies on a regular basis. this is not something that is unusual and not something caused by the affordable care act. weree extent policies canceled because they did not meet the requirements of the affordable care act, the

president has now said, we will give you another year to look at alternatives. we think that is a good step forward and we may well have an alternative of our own tomorrow. the bottom line is this. , passedrdable care act by the congress of the united states and signed by the president of the united states, held to be constitutional by the supreme court of the united states, is working for millions and millions of people right now. and it will work for millions and millions more people who will have the security of having insurance and the availability of affordable health care. we will continue this fight for the american people. i would now like to yield to my friend, the assistant leader, jim, south carolina. >> thank you. i often think of two experiences i had with the affordable care act.

days beforeseveral march my first, 2010, when we passed the bill. the other came in several hours afterwards. several days before we passed the bill, i was doing a call in and while we were answering questions from collins, the gentleman called in and chastised me pretty for advocating before book air act. he said he had a policy like any did not want anybody messing with his policy. he liked his policy. he did not want us fooling with it. i assured the gentleman we had no intention of fooling with his policy. later, aew minutes young lady called in and says,

congressman, i do not have a question, but i would like to say something to the german who called in a few minutes ago. she says, and 48 years old. i went to work on the job is 22. i paid my premiums every week, every month, on time. ago, i wasl months diagnosed with rest cancer. when i went for my second treatment, i got a letter from , cancelingce company my policy. she said, i want to say to that gentleman, i thought i liked what i had, until i tried to use it. today,e president said allows people who think they like what they have, to keep it. it also says to insurance

companies, you must inform these people of what they have. when you inform them of what they have, they may not like that policy they have. they may not know what they do not have. that is what this is all about. close with the lady who called me several hours after. she sent me an e-mail. she said to me, i stayed up late last night. you remember we passed this bill late one sunday night. she said, i stayed up late and waited for this bill to pass. because i have not been able to sleep. justeveral days, i had gotten a letter from my insurance company telling me my policy was being canceled because i have an eight-year-old daughter with cancer and we used

for a of our benefits lifetime and i have been laying awake at night worrying about what would happen to me or my husband if one of us to sick or one of my other children. that is what this law is all about. this is about providing affordable and quality health americans and doing so in such a way that they enter into these agreements with these insurance companies with their eyes wide open. i would hope we would come and begins a country to make this law work well for everybody. you do not do big things like this in one fell swoop. it is done incrementally.

we have taken significant first steps. i would hope we work together to get the country where it ought to be and get health care affordable for everybody. thank you and i yield back. >> we think are democrats will be against the upton bill. >> the president has made it a very important administrative proposal. dot is what he can administratively. we, in the minority, have very few parliamentary opportunities to put on the floor, further, proposals which would require legislative -- a legislative action. have a motion to recommit.

we are in the process of voting consensus around it with our colleagues tomorrow and when you come to the floor, you will see what it is. the president had done something or nothing, we were going to use our congressional minority prerogative to make our voices heard on the floor about access to quality health care. >> the president has apologized [indiscernible] >> i have not apologized because i think all of us, when we were advocating for this legislation, we said time and time again we wanted to get rid of discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions, we wanted to get rid of people

having their policies canceled as soon as they got sick, we wanted to get rid of the annual limits, the lifetime limits, and all of us knew full well that our constituents had made a well of what is in the policies. whetherdetermined that they liked what they wanted. once they become aware, if they like it, keep it eerie when they didme aware, of what they not have, i do not think there is anything for us to apologize for. what we are doing is pressing issues most people -- and i am one of them. i have three daughters. my first not -- my first he does, it out of my pocket because i did not read the fine print. middle ofjobs in the my life's pregnancies and they would not pay. both of my jobs were state jobs.

they had a little thing in the fine print that says, if you change jobs, you have to be on a new job 10 months before we paid for maternity leave. it.i end up paying for just having a college degree will not help you much. >> thank you. i have got a district that is the average income in my district is probably in the low 30's. in a place like los angeles, that does not take you very far. if you look at census data, you will find folks in my district probably hold down more jobs, work longer hours, then most people in america. they has to -- they have to because they do not learn very much. the congressional districts in the nation, the second-most uninsured when it comes to health care in the nation. what do i hear from folks back home? i am getting a lot of thank

you's. as i mentioned, andrew waited three hours to get his policy, but he will save $6,000 now. the same or better health-care coverage 6000 extra dollars in his pocket. i think all of us are hoping that is the story. to get past the glitches. the administration has heard from us many times. they said themselves, we did not want to see the glitches with the bumps in the road with the website. the important thing is not to repeal it because you had glitches. is to improve it so you can have more stories about getting great health insurance and saving $6,000. qwest i just wanted to say, first of all, you understand if you had a policy, on the day this bill was adopted, you got to keep it. if did not get to keep it

insurance companies did not want to offer it to you. we did not say they had to give you the policy. we said if you like it or keep it. no one had mined the insurance companies would be forced to offer people insurance. they are not forced to offer people insurance right now. so the statement, if it was limited to the bill itself, was absolutely accurate ear the problem is, people interpreted that and frankly, we said it expansively. as you may have heard me say in my press conference, we were not as precise as we needed to be on the issue. what the president has done is set, we made the representation and we will try to keep that for the next year. toyou can have some time figure out what is in your best interest and your family's best interest. to the time being made when we were presenting the bill, that statement was accurate. after the bill, of course, the

bill said, you needed to -- you can have your sharet we would in fact the risk and not have somebody was ofpolicy who -- that such low incidence of payment for healthcare that it would be rest of us. to the that is the premise of insurance. you want to share the risk. >> the president was very gracious in taking anponsibility and making apology but i agree with mr. hoyer, what the president says in regard to the affordable so. act is absolutely there is nothing in the affordable care act that said your insurance company should cancel you. that is not ha the affordable care act is about. it simply didn't happen. constituents if they liked their plan they could keep it? metuld have if i ever anybody who liked his or her plan but that was not my

experience. was my my experience and it was not my experience as a occasionally has a bad back and the rest of that. i was considered a poor risk some resourcesad and thought i was quite strong five children. but the insurance company didn't see it that way. peoplet run into many who say i love my health insurance policy. and if it is that they do because it is such a low premium and high deductible, predicated no incidence of accident, illness, diagnosis or anything family, you own know that something is down the road for them. and the fact of insurance is to spread the risk for those families as well. so as far as the affordable care concerned what the president said was completely accurate. hismmend him for graciousness for taking

responsibility. >> i just want to make a comment know exactly what the leader meant. membersell you, when said that, there is nothing in this that mandates that any which insuresion most people in america would their policy. nothing. zero. nada. and it was our expectation and hope that if general motors or electric or general whoever you work for had an insurance policy, there is this bill which says they need to cancel it or stop it, period. the overwhelming number of insured in this country and that is certainry expected because i had some people come up to me who didn't like their policy who working for a corporation or large medium or small that policying them a good and they liked it and i was accurate and said nothing in the bill is going to take this away from you and that is accurate and was accurate and it

accurate. [indiscernible question from the gallery] >> the fact is it is presidential prelogtive in terms of enforcement is not unprecedented. fact, it is precedented. >> jack? day said things look well today said things look twice. what happened today? did they hand out early christmas gifts? changed the -- >> chocolate. to the headline about where the republicans want

to take us. every member who came yesterday to caucus to listen to the anxious toion was know how do we move forward and make this better and how do we continue to have a health law that is working for everyone? yesterday we hadn't heard how the president was going to try beingress the concerns expressed by lots of americans. today people got a further theanation with detail from president's own representatives. out todaythey walked they got the answer to the question they had asked yesterday. and, once again, their question not will we repeal these new protections and rights that americans have to ensure that they will never go bankrupt if they have to take their child to the doctor, it is how do we make andrewer so folks like striker in los angeles, the gentleman i just mentioned can continue to move forward and saves $6,000 on his health insurance. a lot of members are pleased

a way to move forward to improve on the health security law to make it better and know that americans will to have or get affordable health insurance. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> there is more in the u.s. house. members will vote on the keep your health plan mandates insurance companies keep people in their current policies. coverage continues at on0 a.m. eastern, here c-span. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute] upcoming vote in the

house on gop bill aimed at doing thing.e our guest is congressman andy harris of maryland and sandra levin of michigan is here to talk about the healthcare law, form bill changes tos and federal unemployment insurance. washington journal is live every at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> coming up on c-span, janet yellin, president obama's choice to head the federal reserve testifies before the senate banking committee followed by president obama's announcement on the healthcare law. will hearpresident we landrieu aboutry legislation to allow consumers keep their current healthcare plans.

>> janet yellin, president obama's choice to replace ben bernanke testified thursday. if confirmed she would be the as federal to serve reserve chairman. the senate banking committee is two hours and 15 minutes.

call this hearing to order. nominationnsider the

of the honorable janet yellin to the board of governors of the federal reserve years.for a term of four dr. yellin is an extraordinary lead the federal reserve. serves as a member and vice chair of the board of governors. she previously served as a member of the board of governors the 1990's. she was a chair of the -- of clinton's council on economic advisors and she served years as the president of the san francisco fed. addition, dr. yellin has an academic record. she is a professor at berkeley's of business and was previously a professor at

as well as arsity faculty member of the london economics. sumas.cum,graduated her phd ineceived economics from yale. especiallyion is timely as our nation struggles with high unemployment in the of the great recession. she is devoted a large portion of her professional and academic labor market,ing unemployment, monetary policy and the economy. also has a strong track record in evaluating in the economy. analysis has been spot on. the new york times recently "the firstshe was 2005 to describe

the rise in housing prices as a bubble that might damage the economy." she was also the first in 2008 to say that the economy had recession ." these forecasts were not an anomaly. the "wall street journal" recently analyzed 700 predictions made between 2009 and 2012 in speeches and congressional testimony by 14 federal reserve policy makers dr. yellin was the most accurate. accurate economic judgment would be a tremendous quality of chair. dr. yellin has proved through her extensive and impressive public service and is most that she qualified to be the next chair of the federal reserve.

her expertise at the helm of the fed as the nation theinues to rescor recover from great recession. complete wall street reform and enhance the stability of our financial sector. my voteted to cast for -- to confirm her as first woman to serve as chair of the federal reserve and when we vote urge myomination i colleagues to do the same. now turn to member for his statement. >> thank you. today's hearing is an not only to exam governor yellin's qualifications andalso her views on role direction of the federal reserve. in recent years the fed has unprecedented policies including purchasing trillions of dollars in treasuries and mortgage backed

securities. current fed purchases total up month.billion a as a result, the next fed chair sheetnherit a balance that currently stands at approximately $3.8 trillion, times higher than before the financial crisis. i i think everyone knows, have been a long time critic of quantitative easing purchases. now that a reduction in asset purchases seem seems to be on te i'm concerned that markets have become overly reliant on them. know howential to dr. yellin about confirmed would manage the process of normalizing the monetary policy. the fed indicated it would hold short-term interest rates slow for an extended period. governor yellin stated the policy rate should be held lower for longer. too long?s the extended period of low rates is hurting individuals reporting

individuals.the international md cautioned that the actions taken central banks are associated with financial ricks that are likely to increase the likely the polesis are maintained. how would the fed ensure that undersks are avoided dr. yellin's chairmanship? unprecedented monetary policy the next fed finalize several regulatory reform rules that must balance the financial inherent need the for markets to take on and accurately price risk. they must be done without u.s. markets at an undue competitive disadvantage harming consumers with unintended consequences. the chair must understand how rules interact and what impact they have on the affected entities and economy at large. just as some worried that we did not have enough regulations on thebooks to prevent economic crisis some of us worry that the post crisis response

will result in a regulatory regime that stifles growth and job creation. the chair of the federal reserve and understand the need for that balance and how to carefully manage competing demands without harming the economy. u.s. banking system and capital markets must remain the preferred destination for the world.hroughout during previous hearings i asked what parts ofanke could be revisited. commentedernanke also in july that legislation is needed to allow the fed flexibility to deal with the collins amendment and tailor appropriate capital requirements for insurance companies. i look forward to hearing dr. yellin's views on what dodd frank fixes congress ought to consider and how she intends to balancean appropriate between the regulation and economic growth in confirmed.

addition to the previously mentioned issues the makeup of in board itself will change the near future. kinernor sarah bloom ras nominated. if governor yellin is concerned will need a new vice chair. moreover, dodd frank created a super vision which has not yet been officially filled. the appointments will shape the federal reserve policy making for years to come. i look forward to working with thechairman to see that positions are filled in a way that provides the proper balance and expertise at the fed. thank you, mr. chairman. you, senator crapo. we have agreed to allow for sufficient time for questions we limiting opening statements to the chair and member. senators are welcome to sub smit an opening statement for the record. now swear in dr. yellin. please rise and raise your right

hand. that theear or affirm testimony that you are about to give is the truth, the whole but thend nothing god?, so help you >> do you agree to appear and testify before any duly of theuted committee senate? >> i do. >> please proceed. >> please be sure that your written statement will be part of the record and i invite you andntroduce your family friends in attendance before beginning your statement. proceed withlease your testimony. >> thank you. i would like to introduce my husband george and my sister and a formers and san francisco fed director carla chambers here with me today. senator crapoon,

and members of the committee, thank you for this opportunity before you today. it has been a privilege for me reserve ate federal different times and in different the past 36 years. honored to be nominated by the president to lead the fed as chair of the board of governors. i approach this task with a clear understanding that the entrusted the federal reserve with great responsibilities. its decisions affect the american and every the strength and prosperity of our nation. depends most, of course, on the productiveness the americane of people but the federal reserve promotingle, too, conditions that foster maximum

employment, low and stable inflation and a safe and sound system.l the past six years have been nation and for our difficult for many americans. financial the worst crisis and deepest recession depression.eat the effects were severe. been farcould have worse. working together, government leaders confronted these challenges and successfully crisis.d the under the wise and skilled bernanke, of chairman the fed helped stablize the thencial system, arrest steep fall in the economy and growth. today the economy is significantly stronger and improve. to the private sector has created

the poston jobs since crisis low for employment in 2010. housing which was at the center of the crisis, seems to have corner. construction home prices and significantly. the auto industry has made an comeback with domestic production in sales pre-crisisr their levels. we have made good progress, but go to regainer to the ground lost in the crisis and the recession. unemployment is down from a peak 10%, but at 7.3% in october it is still too high. labor market and economy performing far short of their potential. at the same time, inflation is running below the federal reserve's goal of 2% and is expected to continue to do so

for some time. for these reasons, the federal using its monetary policy tools to promote a moreau more robust recovery. recovery will ultimately enable the fed to reduce its monetary and reliance on unconventional policy tools such as asset purchases. i believe that supporting the suresty today is the path to returning to a more monetaryproach to policy. in the past two decades, and especially under chairman bernanke, the federal reserve clearerided more and information about its goals. stronglychairman, i believe that monetary policy is most effective when the public understands what the fed is trying to do and how it plans to

do it. at the request of chairman effort toi led the adopt a statement of the federal open market committee's longer run objectives including a 2% goal for inflation. i believe this statement has sent a clear and powerful about the fomc's hasitment to its goals and helped anchor the public's expectations that inflation will low and stable in the future. in this and many other ways, the federal reserve has become a transparentd institution. i strongly supported this commitment to openness and transparency and i will continue ando so if i'm confirmed serve as chair. the crisis revealed weaknesses financial system. i believe that financial

the federal, reserve, and our fellow have made considerable progress in addressing those weaknesses. banks are stronger today. beingtory gaps are closed. and the financial system is more resilient.more safeguarding the united states systemglobal financial requires higher standards both here and abroad. so the federal reserve and other regulators have worked with our counterparts around the globe to secure improved capital other reformsnd internationally. today, banks hold more and higher quality capital and assets -- liquid assets that leaves them much withstandpared to financial turmoil. large banks are now subject to designed tos tests

ensure that they will have to continue the vital role they play in the economy even under highly adverse circumstances. we have made progress in strong and stable financial system but here, too, lies ahead.rk i'm committed to using the fed's supervisory and regulatory role to reduce the threat of another financial crisis. i believe that capital and rules and strong toolsision are important for addressing the problem of financial institutions that are as too big to fail. in writing new rules, however, the fed should continue to limit regulatory burden for community banks and smaller institutions, taking into distinct role and

contributions. overall, the federal reserve has its focus on financial stability and is taking that into consideration when carrying out its monetaryilities for policy. i support these developments and confirmed to continue them. long wayry has come a since the dark days of the financial crisis, but we have farther to go. i believe the federal reserve progresssignificant toward its goals but has more work to do. thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. happy to respond to your questions. testimony.u for your will the clerk please put five minutes on the clock for each member? dr. yellin, you know as i do unemploymenployment is not just

real men andre women who are ready to work if chance.e if you are chair, how will you lead to fed to continue reduce aggressively and improve the prospects of young areicans and others who unemployed? you, senator. i would be strongly committed to fomc towith the robuste promoting a economic recovery. as you noted, unemployment remains high. disproportionate share of that form ofment takes the long spells of unemployment, around 36% of all those unmany ployed have been unemployed for

more than six months. this is a virtually unprecedented situation, and we know that those long spells of particularlyare painful for households, impose costs ondship and those without work, on the marriages of those who suffer unemployment spells, on their families. imperative that we do what we can to promote a recovery.g we are doing that by continuing asset purchase program, intend -- we put in assuringh the goal of a substantial improvement in the labor market.e we are taking account of the

efficacy of that program as we go along at this costs i believe the exceeds the benefits exceed the costs. as that program gradually winds indicated that we expect to maintain a highly monetary policy for some time to come thereafter want tomessage that we send is that we will do what is to assure a robust recovery in the context of price stability. >> what are the dangers of tapperring the asset purchases early? fomcnfirmed how should the move forward on an exit strategy? >> so senator, i think that frankly, onngers, both sides of ending the program

ending accommodation too early. were are also dangers that have to keep in mind with too longg the program or more generally keeping accommodation in place too long. tothe objective here is assure a strong and robust recovery so that we get back to two full employment and that we do so while keeping inflation under control. removemportant not to support, especially when the recovery is fragile and the tools available to monetary policy should the economy falter .re limited toelieve it could be costly

withdraw accommodation or failed to provide adequate accommodation. on the other hand it would be doortant to make sure we withdraw accommodation when the time has come. my colleagues and i are committed to the longer run inflation goal of two percent. we will need to ensure that as home we wills bring monetary policy back to normal in a timely fashion. i believe we have the tools to do so. we have been careful to make sure we have the tools available at our disposal and we also have

the will and commitment, and i look forward to leading the normalization of monetary policy. >> thank you. >> i would like to follow-up up on the question with you. with regard to quantitative easing, you have indicated you feel as long as the economy remains fragile that we need to continue with the federal reserve. the fed's balance sheet will reach almost 24% of gdp in the first quarter of 2014. i am concerned about the impact and theconomy unintended consequences of these accommodations. it seems to me there is a disconnect between what the fed

intended to accomplish and the results. even the fed zone economist estimate qe2 as only about .3% to real gdp growth in 2010, and indicated itt has contributes to bubblelike markets. how do you respond to the concerns that quantitative easing is creating serious risks in our financial markets? >> a number of different studies have been done attempting to assess what contributions have and this is something we butt know with certainty,

my personal assessment would be based on all that work that they have made a meaningful improvingon to outlook. the purpose was to push down longer interest rates. we have seen interest rates fall substantially. lower interest rates, lower mortgage rates have been instrumental. it's not the only fact her, but inhas been a positive factor generating the economy of the housing sector. areas are moving up, and i think that is helping substantially, including a large fraction of .ousehold

it is improving household finances. i think we have seen recovery in spurred by lows interest rates. >> how can we operate monetary oficy in such extreme levels quantitative easing. >> when we initiated it unemployment was 1.81%, and the committee was pessimistic about expectations over what it did see over the ensuing year. the community expected little or no progress brigade down unemployment.

we indicated our goal was to see substantial improvement in the outlook for the labor market, so the process of this program is data to send and, but we have seen improvements in the labor market. >> can it continue indefinite lee? if the labor market does not continue to the point where it reaches its target, how long can this continue? this cannotgree continue forever. we are monitoring very carefully. -- you noted potential risk stability.l those risks we take seriously. the committee is focused on a variety of risks and recognizes the longer this program continues the more we will need so irry about those risks,

don't see the program as continuing indefinitely. do you have any estimate as to when there will be a beginning of tapering? .> we are attempting to assess we have seen progress in the labor market. the committee is looking for signs we will have growth strong enough to promote continued progress. indicated in a recent statement we see strength in the private sector are of the economy, and we are expect think progress going forward. time thate is no set we will decide to reduce the pace of our purchases, at each meeting we are attempting to assess whether or not the outlook is meeting the criteria

since the pace of purchases. >> thank you. >> of the federal reserve has engaged in measures to somegthen our economy, critics have argued any growth orht somehow be artificial that low interest rates and cheaper credit might lead to financial instability or asset bubbles if investors make in order tostments "reach for the yield." and the current environment, isn't week demand a greater concern? at them polling back spending, businesses holding off on invest ng because of week consumer and demand.

the risk of change policy actions? wei completely agree that -- what we demand is a major drag on the economy. arepurpose of the policies to bring down interest rates in ,rder to superearths bending and if we are capable of doing aat, that will stimulate favorable dynamic in which jobs are created or spending takes , and that creates more jobs throughout the economy.

i agree, and our programs are intended to remedy the situation of weak demand. on the other hand it is financialto monitor risks that could be developing as a consequence of programs or are even moreates broadly of developing financial risks in the economy. the federal reserve is devoting substantial resources and effort to monitoring those risks. at this stage i don't see risks of financial stability, though . we don'timited yield see a buildup of development at risk that i think at this stage poses a risk. some commentators have

fullsted in addition to employment the fed should also monitor asset bubbles. do you think it is a feasible job and something the fed should be doing? if so, what should be done about it? >> i think it's important for the fed to it time to detect attempt toes -- to find asset bubbles. we have done a good deal in to try to seeors. if there is evidence of price misalignments that are developing. by and large, i would say i don't see evidence in major at least of a level that

would threaten financial stability, but if we were to detect other threats to as a firsttability, line of defense we have our first layer of tools we can use to attempt to limit. rule out using monetary policy as an attempt to address misalignments. us toe congress has asked use those tools to achieve the goals of maximum employment and price stability, which are

important goals in their own right, i would like to see toetary policy directed achieving those goals congress has given us, and to use other tools to try to address potential financial stability environment of low interest rates can reduce risky behavior, and i would not rule out monetary policy having a role. >> welcome, governor. would you describe the portfolio of the federal reserve as unprecedented? >> yes. and you are also the chairman of economic advisers? recent history,

have you noticed any portfolio of the fed approaching what it is today? >> not that the federal reserve. >> i am asking about the federal reserve at the united states of america. >> no. >> would you describe what you ?re doing you describe quantitative easing. is that the stimulus for the economy? you use the term monetary tool. is that what you would use to stimulate the economy? >> it is attempted to push down longer-term interest rates and stimulate demand in spending in the economy.

is this something they have a spouse over the years at times when you have high unemployment -- they have espoused over the years when you have high unemployment? about if theow canes thought about it. they have written about something that is basically asset,and demand, buying then it may be possible to push down there yields.

>> it was said several years ago that china was buying our bonds. isn't it true the federal reserve is a sickly the buyer of our bonds? for the most part? >> we are purchasing a substantial wanted tea of treasury and mortgage backed , but we certainly are doing so for the sake of helping the government finance the deficit. in circumstances where we have run out of scope for conducting monetary policy when our

overnight interest rate target has hit zero, we really have to techniques,rnative and we are certainly not the only central bank that has and iszed this undertaking similar programs. you allude to other central banks, and i don't know of any other central bank i think we we should set the example here, and the fed has darkly. you mentioned unemployment. unemployment is seven point two or three percent. >> 7.2. >> what israel unemployment, people who have given up looking for a job, frustrated by the whole system? air t and or 14%?

>> you are right. around that? >> we have seen a significant decline in participation. part of it reflects an aging but some of it may be a reflection of a very weak labor market conditions, where people have been unemployed for a long time and feel frustrated about their job prospects. quickly manage your , howon basel three important it is for banks to capital standards of

and liquidity? how important is that? it is extremely important for banks to have more capital. effect hasse into been an important step. there are steps we have taken to make sure the institutions whose financialuld create distress will be used to meet liquidityndards of and prudential supervision to make sure they are more esilient.

>> you were there during the housing of old. housing bubble. let a bubble continue to continue to grow. >> i think in the aftermath of the crisis all of us have spent a great deal of time attempting to draw the appropriate lessons. there have been many. the federal reserve is focused economy,ring the attempting to understand the threats that exist in the financial system and to improve , especially of the largest institutions to make sure we are identifying the threats that can be risks to the

economy. >> when the chairman became -- hee before this committee noted two things. they were clearly aimed at housing. you have spoken about the real economy. means an emphasis on manufacturing because of its ripple effect. one concern is the monetary policy doesn't do enough to serve americans. last year a journalist described it as economic -- as trickle- down economics. we can enrich the wealthy on

wall street, but it's not clear to me and the many americans who haven't seen a raise in a number of years that this policy increases wages and incomes for workers on main street. tell us how the monetary policy families onacts main street and in ohio? to broadly benefit all americans, especially those who were see a harm come to them and their families from high in a recovery, it has taken a long time and has been disappointing. it's true the policies the fed conducts when we implement

monetary policy, drop-down interest rates affect assets prices. term trickle-down. the ripple effects bring benefits to i would say all americans, those who are unemployed and find it easier to get jobs. wage growth has been weak or nonexistent. recovers my hope and expectation is that will change. if we can generate price stability all americans will see

meaningful increases in their well-being. >> i spent a long time talking to bankers. some of the largest banks, and i from so manyn bankers across the board that to be to fail still has not been solved. in march ben bernanke said it is still here. it is said there are deep-seated failures. "they have lack of respect for the law and public trust.

his view is reinforced by the be oj has eight separate investigations underway. -- that boj has eight separate investigations under a way. do you agree we haven't solved the problem? address too big to fail? >> i would agree addressing too big to fail has to be among the most important goals of the post crisis period. that must be the goal we try to achieve. fail creates a threat

to financial stability, and it does unfairly advantage large firms over small ones. my assessment is we are making progress. very meaningful difference in terms of too big to fail. we have raised capital standards. we will raise capital standards further. we have the possibility of requiring the largest banking organizations hold additional unsecured debt at the holding company level to make sure they

re capable of resolution. right now they have the capacity and legal doherty -- legal to resolve a firm that finds itself in trouble. this is very promising in terms that, able to accomplish so we are working with foreign to improve the resolution and continue to put in place higher standards, liquidity requirements. in subsidiary

requirements. i think this will make a meaningful difference, and we are hoping to complete this in >> how willhead. you assess the standards as they if you needct higher capital requirements? how will you assess the effectiveness of those. >> there are studies that attempt to estimate what the too big to fail subsidy is in the , and while there are a .ot of questions >> do you believe there is a subsidy?

i think there are different methodologies used in different and it's hard to be definitive, but i would say most studies point to some subsidy fail, reflect too big to although other factors may also apply. up where my pick colleague left off. i share his and many other concerns about too big to fail eing alive and well.

the first study confirms this in general. there is a huge market advantage. specifically this recommended the federal reserve warned finalized policies and procedures related to the emergency landing at doherty and established timelines to ensure . franknce with compliance. what that means is dodd frank if wind downility to that emergency lending authority.